1. Field of the Apparatus
The apparatus relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for carrying marching percussion and other instruments, particularly drums of various kinds. Further, the apparatus relates to a carrier hardware including a novel support for percussion and other instruments and to carrier assemblies supporting percussion and other instruments on a person while standing, walking or marching. Further, the apparatus relates to a carrier hardware that can be employed to carry any object in the front of a person near waist height. In particular, the apparatus relates to a combination of a carrier assembly with a shift of weight and force vectors to the hips from the existing state of the art weight and force vectors on the shoulders and spinal column.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The prior art discloses many examples of apparatus for supporting percussion instruments but none providing the combination of features disclosed and proclaimed herein.
La Flame U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,683 discloses a carrier for percussion instruments having an abdominal plate connected at one end of a unitary frame partly encircling the consumer at the waist and having an upstanding rear portion pivotally connected to a back pressure plate. Shoulder bars are connected to the back-pressure plate and wrap about shoulders and support straps connect to the abdominal plate, creating weight and force vectors on the spine.
Hsieh U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,610 shows a carrier for percussion instruments having a “T” bar, a pair of shoulder bars, and a belly plate. The shoulder bars are bolted on a lateral plate of the “T” bar. The lateral plate has arc-like slots and spaced semi-circular holes permit bolts to slide in the slots.
The fastening end of each shoulder bar has a hole and an arc-like slot from the upper portion to the lower portion permitting angular adjustment of the shoulder rightward or leftward for various applications. This patented state of the art puts weight and force vectors on the spine. Further, depending on the specific design, the breast plate design discourages female percussionists from participation in drum lines due to pressure on the breast caused by the carrier.
La Flame GB patent 2,123,676 (based on U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,442) discloses a carrier for percussion instruments or the like which includes the combination of a belly plate with a carrier bracket for supporting an instrument at an outwardly-overhung position about a fulcrum area of contact with the front waistline area of the person, a rigid band with a generally bent contour to extend along a portion of the waistline area of the person to the back of the person, a back-plate riser arm supported by the band to extend in a generally upward direction such that a portion of the arm will extend along the back thoracic region of the person, and means carried by the arm for imparting to the thoracic back region of the person a reactive force to the overhung weight of the instrument about the aforesaid means forming a fulcrum area of contact with the person. This has the weight and motion of the musical instrument directly on the shoulders and spinal cord of the consumer.
Dranchak U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,839 discloses a drum-supporting harness having two shoulder-hooks with cushion pads or liners, a breastplate secured to the hooks, and a hanger structure attached to the breast plate and depending there from. Upwardly-facing hooks, a spacer bar extending downward from the hooks, and a spacing abutment carried by the spacer bar and extending forward there from, are carried by the lower portion of the hanger structure. The hooks and the spacing abutment engage upper and lower portions of the body of the drum. The hanger structure is adjustable or extensible by means of overlapping strips, which can be secured in a number of different positions. An adapter assembly attaches to the upper rim portion of the drum for connecting of hooks to the drum. Similar to the state of the art articulated in the Hsieh Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,610), depending on the specific design, the breast plate design discourages female percussionists from participation in drum lines due to pressure on the breast caused by the carrier.
Other possibly relevant prior art is Pyle U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,357; May U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,910; May U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,110; May U.S. Pat. No. 7,394,008; May U.S. Pat. No. 7,166,790; May U.S. Pat. No. 7,071,401; May U.S. Pat. No. 6,881,886; May U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,583; May U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,407; May U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,290; May U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,257; May U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,492.